Hercules Pomarius thumbnail 1
Hercules Pomarius thumbnail 2
+11
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Sculpture, Room 117

Hercules Pomarius

Statuette
ca. 1490-1510 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Florence (made)

This statuette represents Hercules Pomarius and is made by an unknown artist in Florence, in ca. 1490-1510.

In classical mythology, Hercules was a hero and the personification of strength and courage. The figure holds the golden apples which Hercules stole from the garden of the Hesperides as the 11th of his twelve labours. The pose relates to an antique sculpture known from an engraving to have been in the Medici Collection, since lost. There is also a similarity with Michelangelo's David. The base is of a later date and originally formed part of a candlestick.


Object details

Categories
Access_to_Images 2003
Sculpture
Myths & Legends
SCRAN
Object type
Statuette
TitleHercules Pomarius (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Solid cast bronze with a hollow cast bronze base
Bronze
Casting
Brief description
Statuette, bronze, of Hercules Pomarius, made in Italy (Florence), ca. 1490-1510
Physical description
Hercules stands, naked, with his head turned over his left shoulder, his left hand is extended holding three apples. In his right he holds the club, the lower end of which touches the ground. The type is a youthful, beardless one; on the head is a lion's head cap. The base is triangular, with corner volutes and claw feet, decorated with acanthus ornament.
Dimensions
  • With base height: 19in
  • Without base height: 13in
  • Width: 16cm (Without base)
  • Depth: 7.5cm (without base)
Credit line
Salting Bequest
Object history
From the Salting bequest.
Historical context
In classical mythology, Hercules was a hero and the personification of strength and courage. The figure holds the golden apple which Hercules stole from the garden of the Hesperides as one of his twelve labours. The pose relates to an antique sculpture known from an engraving to have been in the Medici Collection, since lost. There is also a similarity with Michelangelo's David. The base is of a later date and originally formed part of a candlestick.
Subjects depicted
Apple
Club
Lions (Animals)
Acanthus
Hercules
Heracles and the Apples of the Hesperides
Summary
This statuette represents Hercules Pomarius and is made by an unknown artist in Florence, in ca. 1490-1510.

In classical mythology, Hercules was a hero and the personification of strength and courage. The figure holds the golden apples which Hercules stole from the garden of the Hesperides as the 11th of his twelve labours. The pose relates to an antique sculpture known from an engraving to have been in the Medici Collection, since lost. There is also a similarity with Michelangelo's David. The base is of a later date and originally formed part of a candlestick.
Bibliographic references
  • Poeschke, Joachim. Die Skulptur der Renaissance in Italien, Band I. Donatello und seine Zeit, (Munich, 1990), p. 142
  • Hill, 'The Salting Collection I - The Italian Bronze Statuettes'. In: Burlington Magazine, Vol. 16, 1910, pp. 311-12
  • Draper, Janus David. Bertoldo di Giovanni - Sculptor of the Medici Household. Columbia, 1992, pp. 263-264, ill. p. 262
  • Massinelli, Anna Maria. Bronzetti e Anticaglie dalla Guardaroba di Cosimo I, Bargello, Florence, 1991, p. 53
  • Pope-Hennessy, John. Italian High Renaissance and Baroque Sculpture, 1963, 2nd edition 1970, pp. 4-5
  • Pope-Hennessy, John. 'Italian Bronze Statuettes', in: Burlington Magazine, Vol. 105, 1963, p. 17
  • Chatelet-Lange, Liliane. "Michelangelo's Hercules in Fontainebleu". In: Pantheon, XXX/VI, Nov / Dec 1972 pp. 455-468
  • Joannides, Paul. 'Michelangelo "Bronzista". Reflections on his mettle'. In: Apollo, Vol. CXLV, No. 424, June 1997, pp. 11-20
  • Joannides, Paul. 'Michelangelo and the Medici Garden', in: La Toscana al Tempo di Lorenzo il Magnifico. Politica Economica Cultura Arte. Conference paper, Florence, 5-8 Nov., 1992, p. 32-33, fig. 24, notes 31-34
  • 'Salting Bequest (A. 70 to A. 1029-1910) / Murray Bequest (A. 1030 to A. 1096-1910)'. In: List of Works of Art Acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum (Department of Architecture and Sculpture). London: Printed under the Authority of his Majesty's Stationery Office, by Eyre and Spottiswoode, Limited, East Harding Street, EC, p. 2
  • Avery, Victoria and Joannides, Paul (with contributions by Abrahms, Peter, van Langh, Robert and Pappot, Arie), A Michelangelo Discovery The Rothschild bronzes and the case for their proposed attribtution, (Cambridge, 2015), p.28 and fig.10 p.25
  • Ebert-Schifferer, Sybille, Natur und Antike in der Renaissance, Frankfurt: Liebieghaus - Museum Alter Plastik, 1985.
  • Catalogue of the Italian art loan exhibition : held in the Corporation Galleries, Glasgow, 1882-83, Glasgow : Robert Anderson, 1882 471
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.76-1910

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Record createdMarch 5, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O96281/hercules-pomarius-statuette-unknown/
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